Traditional outdoor winter games on ice such as ice hockey and ice skating depend upon reasonably favorable ice surfaces.
The traditional game of ice hockey requires at a minimum, hockey skates, hockey sticks, a hockey puck and goal structures. In addition, the hockey playing field preferably is encircled by a wall to keep the puck in play on the ice. Without this wall, the hockey puck travels great distances when struck reasonably hard by the hockey player.
In playing the game of ice hockey on frozen lakes, it is necessary to create some wall or barricade around the hockey playing field to keep the puck from traveling too far. If snow is present on the frozen lake, snow can be used to form adequate barriers or walls around the periphery of the hockey playing field to limit the travel of the hockey puck outside the playing area. In addition, the playing of ice hockey on frozen lakes requires a relatively smooth frozen ice surface for skating and adequate control of the hockey puck during play.
In contrast, the game of soccer requires a hard, non-slippery playing field. This non-slippery playing field is commonly a grass or astroturf surface. In playing soccer, nothing more is required except a soccer ball and goal structures. The soccer ball is typically an inflated, spherical ball.
Common to both traditional games, hockey and soccer, is a goal area or structure typically defined by two vertical poles and a horizontal pole forming a goal area with a net extending behind to catch either the hockey puck or the soccer ball. Backyard hockey and soccer enthusiasts often lack formal goal structures and instead use a pair of simple goal members spaced apart.
A typical indoor soccer ball is disclosed by Galarza in U.S. Pat. No. 3,927,882. Galarza's soccer ball is comprised of a solid spherical core of aluminum foil, an outer spherical core of plastic, two inner covers of thin knitted material and an outer cover of cotton or leather.
Ritch U.S. Pat. No. 3,851,880 discloses a hockey-type game apparatus wherein a hockey stick is fitted with a unique blade for hitting a dumbbell-shaped hockey projectile. The dumbbell-shaped hockey projectile is relatively lightweight and made of a resilient material.
Indoor soccer balls, as disclosed by Galarza are designed especially for playing the traditional game of soccer, and require a substantially spherical projectile that readily rolls on the ground or whatever surface is being utilized and has particularly low energy dissipative characteristics that allow rebounding of the ball after impact a great distance. In contrast, a hockey puck is a relatively solid projectile of a particular shape well suited for the game of hockey. The hockey puck travels relatively long distances when struck by a hockey stick while the puck is on ice.
The game projectile of the present invention is utilized with a new game that incorporates the playing surface and relative field size of hockey and modified rules of soccer. The new game incorporates a game projectile, which is not struck by a hockey stick or any similar game device, but is propelled by kicking, like a soccer ball. However, unlike a soccer ball, this projectile neither rolls nor has any rebounding characteristics. The object of the game, as in both hockey and soccer, is to advance the game projectile of the present invention across the playing field and into an opponent's goal area. The playing surface is contemplated as a surface of ice or other similar smooth hard slippery surface such as a resin covered gymnasium floor. Unlike hockey, however, a smooth, uniform ice condition is not required. One or more players per side make up opposing teams and attempt to propel the game projectile through the opponent's spaced apart goals.